News: Bungie, Dragon Age 4, and The Division 2 are your top gaming stories this week

Blimey, would you Adam and Eve it? Yep, that’s another week done and dusted, and with it a whole bunch of (hopefully) exciting video game news to digest. Being an EastEnders fan, I know how important catching up on stuff is, so that’s why I’m here to guide you through the biggest gaming stories of the past week before you bugger off down the pub, play some Fortnite, fire up Netflix, or do whatever it is you do on a Friday night. But first, I’ll get the important stuff out of the way…

After embarking on a successful tour over the past 18 months, dad rock god Phil Collins continues to remind people he’s Not Dead Yet by announcing another batch of album remasters. This time, the former Genesis drummer is polishing up Serious Hits…Live! and A Hot Night In Paris. And of course I’m going to buy them.

Meanwhile, Dancing on Ice’s resident panto villain Jason Gardiner didn’t wait around to deliver more acid-tongued critique, saying of Gemma Collins’ performance on the show: ‘It reminded me of a French and Saunders parody.’ Ouch. She then suggested he couldn’t skate, which lead to him branding her ‘ignorant.’ The claws are out!

Finally, Danny ‘I’m fucking Danny Dyer’ Dyer revealed that he’s related to a French king. Not just any king, but Louis IX, who is apparently the hardman’s 26th great grandfather. Cor blimey, guv!

Sony’s latest telly box has been strutting its stuff for over five years now, and as of December 31, 2018, has sold just over 91 million units globally. Its success is perhaps not surprising; PS4 gained an early lead in the current console war (I feel like I should be in a 90s school playground every time I type that), and while momentum has slowed somewhat, it’s clear PS4 still has plenty of steam left. Last year was particularly strong for the console, with exclusives such as God of War and Spider-Man coaxing punters off the fence, although it’ll be interesting to see how things progress this year. Crucially, it’s officially passed PS3 – can it catch PS2 next?

Overwatch developer Blizzard Entertainment revealed its second LGBTQ hero this week, with a new back story for Soldier: 76 confirming he identifies as gay. The announcement comes more than two years after Tracer was revealed as having been in a relationship with a woman, which itself was a huge development at the time, least of all as she’s such a prominent character in the shooter. As far as diversity in video games go, this is a solid step in the right direction.

Yoshi’s Switch debut has been a long time coming, having originally been unveiled at E3 2017. Ninty has now confirmed this week that the Goomba-gobbling dino’s latest outing will be coming out in late March, and to be fair, it’s looking brilliant. The whole crafted landscape looks lovely, and adds a new dimension to the otherwise familiar platforming antics that Mario’s loyal companion has delivered over the past couple of decades.

God of War’s sprawling Norse-flavoured setting is definitely oozing with potential as far as post-launch content is concerned, although 10 months down the line we’re still yet to receive any story DLC. The game’s director, Cory Barlog, revealed this week that he pitched some ideas for additional content, but those plans were deemed just a wee bit too ambitious. It’s a shame. too, as he commented that they were going to be a standalone affair, so presumably we would have gotten something similar in scope to The Last of Us’ Left Behind. Personally, I’d love some DLC with Kratos telling stories in a boat – I’d be down like a clown for that shit.

BioWare briefly teased the next Dragon Age at last month’s Game Awards, although it’s fair to say we won’t be playing it for some time yet. A job listing posted by the Mass Effect creator indicates that multiplayer is on the cards, though. This isn’t all that hard to believe considering Dragon Age Inquisition had multiplayer, as did Mass Effect 3. What form this might take is anyone’s guess right now.

Blimey, who saw this coming? As far as relationships go, Bungie and Activision parting ways is huge stuff; we’re talking Robbie leaving Take That territory. The split puts an end to a planned 10-year partnership between the companies, but the good news is that Bungie now has the publishing rights to its shared-world shooter franchise. Future DLC remains unaffected too, thankfully. Speculation suggests that this is because Destiny 2 and its expansion didn’t set tills alight, but I think it’s a positive move. Bungie is now free to take its time with Destiny without a publisher breathing down its neck about release schedules and pesky microtransactions. On a side note, it is now believed Destiny 3 will show its face in 2020.

Epic’s dedicated store has only been online since December, but it’s clear the service is already presenting itself as a genuine threat to Steam. This week Ubisoft confirmed that the PC version of The Division 2 will be available on Uplay – obviously – and the Epic Games Store. It won’t be on Steam when it launches later this year. To be fair, the former Gears of War developer is only taking a 12 per cent cut of sales versus Valve’s 30 per cent take, so you can hardly blame Ubisoft for being swayed. It’s not just The Division 2, either – additional Ubisoft titles will follow throughout the year, too. Valve better step up its game, and sharpish.

The Order: 1886 oozed potential, but let’s face it, it was a bit of a dog’s dinner in places. Developer Ready at Dawn, according to its latest job listings, is moving on from the Victorian-flavoured shooter and concentrating on a fresh IP, which will apparently take the form of a third-person shooter. I’ll admit, it would have been cool to see a sequel to The Order: 1886 deliver the goods, but that seems to be off the table now.